Meeting Again for the First Time
by deepfriedcake
Summary: A continuation of Lorelai Victoria Got Pregnant and Luke Danes Meets His Match. This time, the Lorelai and Luke who haven't met yet get their chance to mingle between the universes. One-shot.


The bedside alarm clock went off, startling Lorelai out of an uneasy sleep. A second later, the alarm on her cellphone added some cheery chimes to the pre-programmed wake-up effort.

"Ugh, fine. I get it," she mumbled, trying to silence both devices. "It's morning. Unfortunately."

When the room was mercifully quiet again, Lorelai buried her face in her pillow, pretending that she didn't have to get up. It was her bladder, nowadays _such_ a helpful organ, which reminded her that staying put wasn't a viable option.

"Oof." She hoisted herself to the edge of the bed, where she sat until she became acclimated with gravity again. Usually she kept a body pillow wedged against her huge mound of tummy while she slept, but it was missing this morning. If it had fallen to the floor, it was destined to stay there until Luke could pick it up. Anything on the floor was dead to her now.

Slowly and carefully she got to her feet. She put one hand on the small of her back, which ached continuously, no matter what remedy she tried, and the other hand she used as a guide, grasping one piece of furniture after another until she reached the bathroom.

"One," she muttered, sitting down on the toilet. Still groggy, she rested her head against the nearby sink, sighing as she began to tally the new day's bathroom visits.

While washing her hands, she dared a peek in the mirror. Her hair was a horror, and her face clearly showed the strains from the lack of restful sleep. Briefly, she considered bending over enough to splash some water on her face, but almost immediately vetoed that idea. Her hairbrush wasn't where she thought it should be, and she wasn't motivated enough to search for it. The only thing that brought about a smile was the nightgown she had on.

It was pink, and ruffled, and super cute. It was her favorite – as well as Luke's. She'd had it on the morning they did the pregnancy test. It was ridiculous that she was still trying to wear it, but Luke loved it when she did. Her enlarged breasts spilled every which way out of the top. She'd had to open the side seams all the way to the bust line to accommodate her girth. She knew it was beyond silly to wear it…but Luke _loved_ it. Besides, it was one of the few things that still connected her to her old carefree, pre-pregnancy life.

Back in the bedroom, she couldn't spot where her slippers were, either. Since her swollen feet always felt hot now, going downstairs barefoot wasn't a problem.

She took her time navigating the stairs. Falling was one thing that terrified her. The doctor had started to suggest staying downstairs permanently to avoid the perilous trips up and down.

Suddenly, the best smell drifted up to her nose. Pancakes and bacon and warm maple syrup. She gasped in delight and surprise, and shuffled to the kitchen as fast as she could.

"You liar!" she cried out, spying her husband standing at the stove, his back to her as he did that flipping and frying thing he did so well. "What are you doing here? You said you had to open this morning!"

"No, I didn't," he disputed, sounding unusually annoyed. "Caesar is opening today."

"If you say so," she said with a shrug, willing to accept that her sleep-addled brain had managed to confuse his schedule. She came up behind him and put one arm around his middle to give him a squeeze, keeping herself turned sideways so that the babies wouldn't come between them. "I'm not complaining, since I'm the lucky lady getting a genuine Luke Danes' breakfast at home." She rubbed her face against the comforting flannel on his back.

He scoffed and barely patted her hand. "Your coffee's on the table," he said, pointing with the spatula.

"My…" She blinked, looking at the mug on the table as if it was a mirage. "My what?"

"What you call your elixir of life. I'm convinced it's the only thing that keeps you from killing me most mornings."

The steaming mug lured her over to it. "Luke, you know I can't have coffee." She moved her face into the steam, breathing in the forbidden aroma. "Oh my God, this smells _so_ good," she murmured.

He made the same sort of annoyed scoffing noise as before, his attention solely on his cooking. "Keeping you away from coffee sounds like a good plot for a horror movie."

Awkwardly, Lorelai maneuvered herself and the babies down onto a chair at the table, her eyes glued to the enticing mug. "Is it decaf?"

"Are you kidding? No, I learned my lesson about that a long time ago."

If only she could think clearly. Something about the whole morning wasn't right. If only she could actually _drink_ some of the coffee to help wake her up, maybe it would all start to make sense.

Before she could ask another question, something cold and wet snuffled against her hand, startling her so much that she shrieked and lurched up out of the chair, which immediately toppled over behind her, the noise thundering throughout the kitchen.

"Oh my God, there's a _dog _in here!" she yelled, pointing a trembling finger at the cowering creature.

"Geez, Lorelai, what the hell's the matter with you!" Luke yelled right back at her. The spatula had flown from his hand at her initial shriek. He bent to pick it up and then, for the first time since she'd entered the kitchen, turned to face her.

She'd always heard about how shock could make the blood drain from a person's face. Today, she got to witness it firsthand.

Shock almost immediately gave way to anger. He pointed the spatula at her, his arm practically shaking in fury. "You think this is _funny_?" he accused her, indicating her middle. "What, this is one of your bits that I'm just supposed to accept in good humor, or something? As if things aren't bad enough around here, you want to make it even more awkward?" He stepped closer, fuming, and put one of his hands contemptuously onto the mound of baby.

A baby soundly kicked him back. _Don't touch my mama!_

For the second time, Lorelai watched his face pale. He staggered backward and had to catch himself on the table, stunned beyond belief. "I don't…what is…what the hell?" he stammered out, continuing to stare wild-eyed at her.

She pulled out another chair and collapsed down onto it. "Oh, my God." She looked swiftly around the kitchen, seeing it clearly now. "This isn't my house." She looked at the terrified man slowly backing away to the safety of the stove. "You're not my Luke."

He shook his head at her. "What are you babbling about?"

"Lorelai. Your Lorelai. Did she ever tell you about –" She stopped talking abruptly, not sure how to go about explaining it if he didn't know. Plus, as stressed as he seemed to be about life in general, she wasn't sure if he'd even consent to listen to her. "Did she mention, um…visiting another Stars Hollow?"

He put his hand on top of his hat, holding it in place, a gesture familiar to her. "She did. But I –" He paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm not sure I ever actually believed her." He glanced at her, still spooked. He focused on her huge belly. "I never truly believed…until now. I thought it was just Lorelai, being fanciful. Spinning yarns just to get me riled."

Lorelai smiled faintly at him. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I ever believed it 100 percent either, but I guess I'm convinced now."

"Yeah," he said quietly. He put his hands on his hips and looked down at the floor.

Her body sent her a signal and she struggled to pull herself to her feet. She began to waddle across the floor.

"Where are you going?" he asked, panic in his voice.

"Gotta pee. _Again_," she informed him. "That only happens about eighty times a day." She pointed down the small hallway. "I'm guessing the bathroom's still down here?"

He nodded silently.

Once safely in the bathroom, she leaned against the sink, doing the deep breathing exercises they'd learned in childbirth class. She could feel her heart pounding. She knew she needed to get in control.

"Hold it together," she pleaded to herself. "Just hold it together."

After washing her hands, she spied Lorelai's hairbrush propped up in a decorative container on the back of the toilet tank. Under the circumstances, she didn't think she'd mind if she borrowed it for a bit to try and civilize her bedhead.

Back in the kitchen, Luke had righted the overturned chair, replaced the coffee with orange juice, and had a plate of pancakes waiting for her.

"Lorelai's always hungry, and I figure in your condition, you're probably extra hungry, so…" He shrugged nervously and gestured at the table. "Help yourself."

"Thanks." She sat down, self-consciously tucked her hair behind her ears, and picked up her fork. The pancakes smelled heavenly and tasted even better. She pointed her fork at him and smiled while chewing. "OK, you pass the pancake test."

Hesitantly, he sat down across from her at the table, obviously still unnerved. "Let me know if you want anything else," he offered.

"There's probably something we need to tackle right away." She laid down her fork. "Where's your gal supposed to be this morning? After breakfast, I mean."

"At the Dragon…" He trailed off as the problem became obvious to him. "Oh."

"Yeah." She pointed at her baby mountain. "I can't very well take her place."

"Right, right." He thought it through for a few seconds. "I'll call Sookie." He pulled out his phone.

"Wait. _You'll_ call Sookie? Does that mean Luke Danes is capable of lying in this universe without getting caught?"

"Under these circumstances? Yes."

"Hmm. We'll see," Lorelai said skeptically. "Pass me the phone when you're ready for me to take over." She picked the fork back up.

Luke gave her a sour look before turning his full attention to the phone call. "Hey, Sookie, sorry to bother you so early. Lorelai just got up and found out she's lost her voice. I suspect she has other symptoms of illness too, but right now she's only upset because she can't talk." He listened, then smiled briefly. "Yeah, that's a fate worse than death for her, all right." He paused again. "OK, thanks. I'll keep her home then for today. I'll let her know that you'll hold down the fort. Sure will. Thanks." He snapped his phone closed, giving her a triumphant look.

She was going to grudgingly congratulate him on the subterfuge, but just then, from under the table, the dog snuffled her knee and she startled again. "Geez, _this dog_," she complained.

"I'm surprised he came back. Usually anything unexpected makes him run and hide for hours," Luke explained.

Lorelai did her best to glare at the furry interloper. "It's Donny Osmond, right?"

Luke had to fight off a smile. "Paul Anka."

She turned her mock-glare his way. "Donny Osmond sang _Puppy Love_ too."

"If you say so."

"You just wait. I'm gonna get a dog too, and I'll name him Donny Osmond, and then I'm just going to sit back and watch the universe explode," she grumbled, cutting off another hunk of pancake. That pronouncement got a genuine grin out of Luke. While she chewed, she watched as his eyes left her face and momentarily shifted lower.

"_Gah!"_ The fork dropped to the table as she suddenly remembered her exploding boobage situation. She slapped her hands over her chest and lowered her head in embarrassment, feeling her cheeks flame. "Oh, God. I'm mortified."

"What's wrong?" he questioned sharply, probably worried that she was going into labor or something.

"What's _wrong_?" She shook her head, not able to look at him yet. "I'm sitting here, dressed like this, in front of you, that's what's wrong! This was sort of a joke, last night, for _my_ Luke…and now, here I am, half-naked and gross, and totally humiliated!"

"Hey, it's OK." She felt something soft brush against her hand, and when she looked, she found that he was passing his flannel shirt to her. "You can put that on if you want to, especially if you're cold, but don't for a minute think that you're gross. You're…a Lorelai." He smiled rather wistfully and dipped his head. "In any universe, that means you're nothing but beautiful."

She put the shirt on as quickly as she could, relieved to discover that she could still _just _manage to button it across her huge tummy. "You're very polite, but I feel like a beached whale."

"That's not how you look," he said firmly.

She took a deep breath and retrieved her fork. The flannel was comforting and familiar. Maybe_ too_ familiar. Tears pooled in her eyes. She tried to blink them away without success. "Luke did this one time, too, with his shirt," she explained, her voice a little shaky. "I'd just quit my job and he could see I was on the brink of losing it. He talked me down, warmed me up, fed me."

"Well, sure. All of us Lukes gotta take care of our Lorelais."

She nodded and tried to remain upbeat, but tears were still threatening. He must have been able to tell, because he tried to keep the conversation going, which she knew wasn't easy for him.

"What do you mean, you quit your job? You quit the Independence?"

"No, I never worked at the Independence at all."

"You didn't?" He looked genuinely confused. "Then how –?"

"There's no Rory in my world, so no reason for me to run away from home and find Stars Hollow. I was working at an advertising agency in Hartford."

"I still don't understand. How did you get here, then?"

She was starting to wonder just how much Lorelai had actually told him. "Luke came to Hartford, to find me. He filled me in about the Dragonfly and everything, and eventually I moved here and quit the advertising job."

He was staring at her now, a harder look in his eye. "_He_ came to find you. Because he was looking for _her_." There was a sharp edge to his voice that she didn't like.

"For the other Lorelai, right," she agreed. "But he found me instead."

Luke gazed down at his hands, clasped before him on the table. "Typical," she heard him mutter.

"Anyway, I was working full time while trying to renovate the Dragonfly, and one day my boss criticized me and I blew up and quit. By the time I got back to Stars Hollow I was practically catatonic from the shock of what I'd done. Luckily Luke was there to get me back on my feet." She nuzzled her cheek down against the soft collar of the shirt. The tears sprang back to her eyes and she sniffled, not able to control her wayward emotions.

"It's OK," he stated immediately, his focus solely back on her.

"I know," she agreed, but her voice quavered. "It's just the crazy pregnancy hormones. But I _do_ wish I was back home." A few tears leaked out of her eyes and down her cheeks before she could catch them.

"Hey, hey now." Luke jumped up to snatch a box of tissues from a side table. He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder as he sat them down in front of her. "You know this is just a temporary thing. A glitch of some sort. You'll be back where you belong before you know it."

A new, terrifying thought crossed her mind. "Oh God – what if…what if this was bad for the babies? What if getting flung from one universe to another hurt them?" She hugged her arms around her mid-section.

"I'm sure it's all fine," he said reassuringly, staying ultra-calm for her sake. "So far these trips haven't hurt anybody. If the universe is all-knowing, all-seeing, surely it wouldn't risk pulling a pregnant woman around if there was any danger to it." He patted her shoulder once more before going back to his seat. "If there was, I'd be in your kitchen right now, instead of you being here."

"That makes sense," Lorelai murmured, feeling calmer.

"And I'm confident the baby's fine, based on the strength of the kick I felt."

"Right." Lorelai nodded, and put her own hand on her stomach, feeling the shimmers and waves of movement going on underneath.

"Hey, wait a minute…did you say babies? Plural?"

"Yeah, there's two of 'em."

"Twins?"

The pleased, almost gleeful look on his face reminded her of her Luke for the first time. "Yep, twins. Why does that make you happy?"

Immediately he tried to tone down his response. "Oh, no reason. There was just this one time, Lorelai had a dream that she was pregnant with twins."

"Oh, wow!" Lorelai assumed this was another transfer between the universes. "Is she?" she asked eagerly.

"What? Oh, no. No. This was a long time ago. We weren't even thinking about dating then."

"Really, huh? Not even _thinking_ about it?" she asked cynically.

He looked a little uncomfortable. "Not really. I was actually with someone else at the time."

Lorelai propped her elbow on the table, ready to dive in. "Who?"

"Um, Nicole?" She could tell he'd made it into a question in case she didn't know who that was.

"_Nicole?"_ She wrinkled her nose. "Seriously?"

"I take it you don't like Nicole either."

"I don't even know her," Lorelai said with a shrug. "I chased her off the first time I caught her in the diner."

"Nice," Luke criticized her, folding his arms over his chest.

"Hey, Luke wasn't ready for what she was offering. I had a polite, honest conversation with her. She saw my point and left."

"And he went along with you doing that?"

"Oh, he was angry and embarrassed for a little bit, but overall I think he was grateful he didn't have to deal with her."

She could tell he wanted to argue about it more, but then he sighed and looked down at the table. "Might have been for the best," he muttered.

"So she told you she was pregnant with twins, huh?" She looked at him appraisingly. "Were you the daddy?" She could tell by the sudden reddening underneath his scruff of whiskers that she'd landed on the truth. "Why did she tell you about it?"

"Because we were –" He stopped, hunched his shoulders, and rubbed at his forehead. "No matter how I try to explain this, you're going to take it the wrong way," he complained.

Lorelai grinned. This sounded like fun. "Try me."

"It was the night after the Independence burned down –"

"_What?!"_ Lorelai leaned as far forward as the babies would allow. "You're kidding me! The Independence is _gone_?"

"No, that's just the way we refer to it, I guess. It was a bad fire, though. Shut the place down for a while, and then they tried the B&B route, but that didn't really work. Eventually Mia decided to sell the place. As terrible as it was, it was the push that Lorelai and Sookie needed to go out on their own."

"Wow, I had no idea."

"At first, no one knew how bad the damage was, so the staff had all of the guests bunk with people in town until they could get back inside and claim their belongings. Sookie took over the diner as a temporary kitchen. The night after the fire, some guests ended up at Lorelai's house, which meant she had no place to sleep."

Lorelai couldn't help but giggle, as she could plainly see where the story was going. "Let me guess where she found a spot."

He gave her a look of annoyance.

"Tight quarters," she commented, biting down on her mirth. "What did your girlfriend have to say about that?"

"She never knew," he said curtly.

"Uh-huh."

"Will you stop? It wasn't like that."

"Then why not tell Nicole about it…" She paused for the perfect length of time. _"…Butch?" _she tacked on slyly.

The glare was everything she could have asked for. "Because Lorelai was already an issue. There was no need to make it worse."

"Why was Lorelai already an issue?"

"Isn't Lorelai _always_ an issue?"

She cocked her head. "_I _wouldn't know."

"Well, trust me. She is."

"OK. Moving on. She's sleeping at your place. Let's hear about the dream."

"There's not much to tell. We were getting ready to go to sleep, and I set the alarm clock, which reminded her of the dream, and she told me about it. That's all."

"Man, you are a lousy storyteller. Why did an alarm clock remind her of the dream?" She shook her head at him. "Details. I need details."

"Apparently in the dream I set a whole bunch of alarm clocks to make sure she'd get up in the morning. And I hid the coffee, because she was pregnant with twins. Mine," he sighed. "We laughed about it. It was just a goofy dream. Satisfied?"

Lorelai stared at him, trying to decide if he really was that dense, or just pretending to be so that she'd let the topic drop. "Listen, I know stuff, buddy. I know that in this universe, Nicole was a long time after Rachel, and I know that Rachel left because she knew you had feelings for Lorelai. Why would you let this golden opportunity slip by with Lorelai, and then go ahead and marry Nicole? What were you thinking? I don't get it."

His laugh sounded slightly bitter. "What opportunity with Lorelai? She never slowed down enough for there to be an opportunity."

"Oh, come on! She told you this cockamamie dream! While sleeping – where? In your bed? Because I can't see you letting her be the one to sleep on the couch."

Luke nodded, reluctant to let her know she was right.

"And she informed you that you were the daddy, thereby admitting she had dream sex with you. You didn't think _that_ was worth exploring?"

He rolled his eyes. "I told you you'd misinterpret everything. It wasn't like it was some big, sexy reveal. There were no hidden messages. It was just Lorelai, opening her mouth and letting whatever thoughts popped into her head fly out, with no filter. In fact, I think she was embarrassed as soon as she started talking about it."

"Yeah, I bet she was," Lorelai said quietly, studying him.

"You want more pancakes?" He motioned towards her empty plate.

"No, I'm good, thanks." She patted at her expanded middle. "These guys make me hungry all the time, but they've also taken up most of my stomach space."

"Guys?" Luke appeared interested despite himself. "They're boys?"

"No, one of each. A boy and a girl."

"Ah. That's…nice. Great." He shifted slightly on the chair. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Lorelai had been staring at his hands, which were resting upon the table. "To continue to use guys as an all-inclusive term – you guys aren't married?" She pointed to his bare ring finger.

"Guess you guys are?" He gestured with his chin towards the band on her finger, a small note of disdain in his voice.

"Why?" they challenged each other, at the same time.

"You first," Luke insisted.

"Well, we really weren't planning on it, at least not at the beginning." Lorelai looked at him again, trying to size him up. Her Luke just seemed so much more willing to go to the sweet, fluffy side than this cantankerous Luke. She wasn't sure if she dared to share with him what was at the core of their relationship. "There didn't seem to be any real reason to, because from the very first, it was like everything was already settled between us. We knew nothing was going to change for us after that. We were already committed to each other. It didn't make any difference if we had a ceremony of some sort."

"Gee, that's optimistic," Luke muttered darkly.

Lorelai gave him a sharp look. "I'm just telling you the way it felt to us. Sorry if it didn't happen that way for you."

"I'm not saying it didn't –! My opinion is that other crap always has the tendency to get in the way." He shrugged. "Go on."

"Maybe partially it was because we'd each had a failed marriage, so we knew how little difference the legal part meant if it wasn't right to start with. We knew we were solid without it. But then when the babies happened, and we knew we were going to be a family faster than we expected, we decided we wanted to be official after all. We wanted to be Mr. and Mrs. Danes _and_ family."

"You both…?" He looked at her intently, as if expecting to catch her in a lie. "_You_ were married too?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

The speculative look on his face was already mixed with anger. "Who?"

She paused long enough to lick her suddenly dry lips, wondering why he seemed so distraught. "Chris."

His expression changed into a bizarre combo of satisfied glee and fury, the emotions surfacing because he'd already guessed correctly. He sprang from his chair and paced across the room. "Of course," he spat out. "Of course that'd be the one thing she'd never tell me." He whipped around to glare at her. "Lorelai knew, didn't she?"

"Well, yeah," Lorelai confirmed, recalling that she'd freaked out at the wedding picture on her mother's mantle. "But why does that matter so much? It's something that happened to me, in my world. It shouldn't make any difference to you here."

His laugh was bitter and nasty. "Oh, anytime ol' Christopher is involved, you can be sure that I'll be the one in the dark."

She watched him as he continued to pace, stewing in his self-righteous anger. "Wow, you really have a lot of rage going on, don't you?"

"Your guy doesn't?" he snapped at her.

"Not like this, no. He's grumpy, I'll grant you that, but I haven't seen any volcanic fury ready to erupt from him on a moment's notice." She continued to warily track his movements. "You're a little scary."

He went still before turning to look at her in surprise. "I'm scary?"

"A little. Yeah. A little intense."

He rubbed a hand over his face. "Sorry." He took a breath and then came back to join her at the table, looking abashed. "It's just that from the very first time he showed up in town, and Lorelai blew off something she was going to do with me to run off with him instead…" He took another breath and looked at her frankly. "He's been a sore point ever since."

"She blew off a date with you?"

"No, it wasn't a date. But maybe it would have led to – Oh, who knows? Golden Boy showed up and she forgot all about me."

Lorelai reached across the table and tentatively patted his hand, which was still balled into a fist. "I think you have the right to be mad about that."

"The guy's like kryptonite to me," he admitted, still looking angry but trying to justify it. "Every bad thing that's ever happened between us, either he's been the cause or he managed to make it even worse. And Lorelai's just blind to it all. Just because he's Rory's father, he always gets a pass. She runs to him every time he's in trouble – or if _she_ is, too – and I'm supposed to be OK with it, because after all, _he's Rory's dad_." He said the last few words with a mocking bitterness.

Lorelai tilted her head, her loyalty to this other Lorelai suddenly aroused. "So, I hear_ you_ have a daughter over here, too."

"Yeah." He looked at her, frowning at the change of topic. "April."

"And I hear that you didn't tell Lorelai about her for an obscene amount of time."

He scowled back at her. "Yeah, well, she doesn't tell me a lot of stuff, either."

Lorelai sat back in her chair, stunned. "_That's_ why you didn't tell her right away? You were trying to get back at her?"

"No, of course not!" he insisted, but there was something in the way his eyes suddenly widened that made Lorelai think she'd hit close to the truth.

"Then why didn't you tell her?"

He gave an exaggerated shrug, refusing to answer.

Her irritation grew as each second of his silence ticked by. "No wonder it took you eight years to get together, if this is the way you fight."

His glower at her intensified.

"You should be thankful you pulled that stunt on her and not me, because I guarantee that once I was done with you, you wouldn't be able to father twins anymore, that's for sure."

"Good for you then, that you get to head back to your great, mellowed-out Luke, who doesn't have to worry about getting blindsided by an old girlfriend who kept a daughter secret for twelve freakin' years!" he yelled in frustration, unable to keep his silence any longer.

She looked at him with some sympathy. "Twelve years? You never knew for twelve years?"

He took off his hat and laid it on the table before he shook his head, not meeting her eyes.

"That sucks. I'm sorry."

He sighed. "It does."

"Did you think Lorelai wouldn't understand? Did you think she wouldn't accept April or something? Why wouldn't you tell her such a big thing?"

"I ask myself that about a dozen times a day." He smiled sadly. "I wish I had an answer. Maybe I'm just a coward."

Lorelai found herself staring at him again. "I doubt that."

He moved his hat around on the table, keeping his eyes locked on it. "Why do you think your Luke _isn't _a volcano ready to erupt?"

She was quiet, considering the question. "Maybe because his life didn't have some of the trauma yours did? You lost your mom pretty early, right? Luke had both of his parents until fairly recently. From what he's told me, it sounds like his mom was a pretty steadying influence on him."

His gaze shifted to her for a few moments before he sighed and nodded. "She was a great mom," he finally said. "I can see how that might make a difference with a lot of things."

"And Rachel came back. He married her, which was what he thought he wanted. So no pining going on there."

The eye roll again. "There was never any pining."

"Uh-huh," she said skeptically, smiling to let him know she was teasing. "The marriage was not a bad thing for them, it just wasn't great, so there wasn't a lot of angst there."

"And no Nicole," he added.

"Right, no Nicole."

"She cheated on me," he confided with no warning.

"She _what_? Oh, I _knew _she was bad news!" Lorelai crowed.

"I…sort of deserved it."

"Don't be ridiculous. No one deserves that."

"It wasn't much of a marriage. We bought a place together but I never really moved in. Lorelai was right, I was mostly a rude guest, not a boyfriend." He shook his head. "And certainly not a husband," he added on, almost under his breath.

"What?" she laughed, not understanding.

"Never mind. It would have been nice, to skip that whole chain of events, that's all." He was quiet and thoughtful for a short spell. "How does _he_ handle Christopher?"

Lorelai pictured the two of them standing together, valiantly trying to make small talk at the Dragonfly. "He…tolerates him, I guess? I don't think he exactly trusts him, but he_ does_ trust me, so..."

"Trust _is_ crucially important," Luke agreed quietly.

"Everything I had with Chris is in the past, from before I met Luke. And of course, there's no Rory connection to keep us tied together."

"Yeah," Luke said, sounding pensive. He shook his head, clearing it. "Digger's in the past, too?"

"Oh yeah. Way in the past."

"How about the fishing guy?"

"The_ fishing_ guy?" She giggled. "Who in the world is that?"

"Some guy. Alex something or other. He knew a friend of Sookie's, I think."

Her eyes went wide. "Alex Lesman?"

"I don't know last names," he said, shrugging.

"Eww. In my world, he's a friend of Luke's – but yeah, you're right, he's in business with someone Sookie used to work with. Yuck." She shuddered. "He tried to make a play for me, but I wasn't having it."

"Good for you," Luke said dryly. "How the here was_ I_ friends with him?"

"Um, you met when he was trying to get his coffee shop opened up. You're not – well, _Luke's_ not really friends with him anymore."

"Good." He took a deep breath. "How about the teacher?"

"The teacher?" she asked blankly.

"Yeah. Max Medina. You were going to marry him at one time."

"There's never been a Max in my life," she declared with authority.

"That makes sense," he said slowly. "You only met because he taught Rory's class."

"Again, eww. I was dating my kid's teacher? Yuck."

He smiled briefly. "Yeah, I thought it was kind of yucky, too."

She found herself analyzing him again. "You watched her with all of those guys?"

He scrunched his face up, thinking it over, then nodded.

"Sorry," she winced. "Maybe you have the right to some anger, then. I guess Luke and I are lucky that we don't have that baggage muddying up the stuff between us."

For once he sat back and looked at her honestly. "Don't take what you've got for granted," he advised her, sounding surprisingly sentimental.

"I won't. I don't," she assured him.

He looked away, his eyes traveling around the kitchen. "Anything else I can get for you?"

"There is…something."

"Yeah?" He seemed eager to have a task. "What?"

She watched as she wove her fingers together on the table, reminding herself to pull in another measured breath of air. "Could I see a picture of Rory?"

"Rory? Um, sure, I guess so." He stood up willingly, although she was pretty sure he didn't understand why she was asking. "There are some in the living room. Do you want me to go grab them, or do you feel like moving in there?"

"It's probably good for me get up and move a little bit." She smiled ruefully at him. "You'll probably have to help me, though. I suspect my butt's molded to the chair by now."

"Sure, sure." He came over to stand uncertainly beside her chair. "How can I help?"

She scooted the chair back a bit, and then raised her arms out towards him. "Give me a pull."

He put his hands securely on her arms, but still looked hesitant. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You're not going to hurt me," she laughed. "I just need a tug to get on my feet."

She pushed up with her feet and legs, Luke tugged – maybe with just a tad too much force – and she found herself upright, but with her face smooshed against his t-shirt. "Sorry," she chuckled again, pushing away from him. "Thanks, though."

"Not a problem." He pointed towards the hall. "You know the way, right?"

"I hope so." She toddled into the living room and lowered herself carefully onto the familiar looking couch.

Luke gathered several framed photographs from the mantle and brought them over to her, taking a seat on the couch beside her. "This is probably the most recent one."

Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the beautiful young woman. Goosebumps rose on her arms. It was an eerie experience, beholding an image of someone she didn't know…but nevertheless someone her heart immediately acknowledged. She couldn't stop staring at her, drinking in that dear stranger's beloved face.

"I know it's crazy," she said softly, "but I feel like I've always known her. If I would have passed her on the street someday, I would have sensed it. I would have known it was her."

"There's a lot of similarity between her and Lorelai. They're not identical by any means, but they do look a lot alike. Act a lot alike, too."

"I can't stop looking at her eyes," Lorelai murmured, her finger hovering over the picture. "I mean…those are _my_ eyes, too."

Luke glanced at her, his eyes meeting hers for the briefest of moments. "Makes sense. Your eyes are Lorelai's…and hers are Rory's…so yeah. They do look the same."

Lorelai nodded and continued to peruse the photos. She gasped when she got to one of Rory standing with her own parents, shocked to see the doting looks on the faces of Emily and Richard. "Wow," she murmured. "This is _super_ weird."

To her surprise, Luke barked out a laugh. "Weird is an understatement."

Lorelai smiled, but she couldn't tear her focus away from the picture yet. "I concur."

"Do you want to see more? Lorelai's got pictures stashed everywhere."

She brushed her finger tenderly over Rory's hair, as if saying goodbye. "I'd like to see some pictures of Jess now, if you don't mind."

"Uh…" Luke patted at his pockets blindly, looking doubtful. "I don't think I've got any on my phone. I'm not real good about remembering I can take pictures so easily now. And I know I don't have any in my wallet. Sorry."

"I want to see the ones Rory has stashed in her room."

"She has...Rory has pictures of Jess in her room?"

"Yeah, in her desk. Bottom drawer, under a stack of journals. In a bejeweled pencil case."

Luke appeared to have a dozen questions, but instead of asking them, he got up and went to Rory's room. She heard him pulling open drawers and moving things around. "Well I'll be damned," he soon muttered. A minute later he returned to the living room, the case already opened as he ruffled through the prints.

"How'd you know?" he asked, as he handed them to her, but then he shook his head. "Never mind," he added, figuring it out on his own.

Lorelai took her time flipping through the photos. "A very handsome young man," she commented. She stopped at one where a lazy smile brightened his face. "Happy," she observed, with a slight catch in her voice.

"Why'd you ask for these? You don't have any pictures of Jess?"

"Liz has old pictures of him, from elementary school, or baby pictures. And the few pictures Luke has – well, they're not like these. It's painful for him to look at them, so I only asked once."

He frowned at her, seemingly not following.

"You know, don't you? We – over there – we lost our Jess."

His eyes widened, then he winced. "Right, right," he murmured, looking away. "I guess I _did_ know that. Sorry." He took a deep breath. "Truthfully, I guess it's one of those things I'd rather not think about."

She smiled at him kindly. "Tell you what, why don't you make time to call Jess this afternoon and we'll call it even."

He smiled back. "I was just thinking that I should check in with him. It's been a while."

"Sounds good, Uncle Luke." She finished going through the stack of pictures, then carefully straightened them, and put them back into the special keepsake box. "Thanks for indulging my whims," she said, handing it back to him.

One of the babies angled a foot up into her ribs, and she put a hand there, trying to persuade it into a more comfortable spot. "Just so you know, we're trying to fix the gaps in our Stars Hollow. The babies are going to be named Jesse William and Rory Kate."

Luke swallowed hard, staring down at the girlish embellishments on the box of hidden photos. "That's something special, Lorelai." He finally managed to turn his head enough to look at her, a knowing smile on his face. "I feel like I should thank you, but I realize you're not doing it for me."

She giggled. "You know, I'm so mixed up right now that I'm not sure who's who at all."

"In any case, I approve wholeheartedly. My mom would be so honored. My dad would tell you there are thousands of better names."

"Well, we disagree."

His forehead creased as he pondered further. "You said Rory Kate, but you mean she'll be Lorelai Kate, or Katherine rather, right?"

Now she was the one confused. "What?"

"Rory. She's another Lorelai, legally. Lorelai named her after herself."

"She –?" Lorelai laughed in disbelief. "She did what, now?"

"Rory's named after Lorelai. And her grandmother too, I guess, now that I think about it."

"But how…" Lorelai felt taken aback. "How does Rory become a nickname for Lorelai?"

Luke gave her a sharp look before he slowly grinned. "You know what? I have no idea. I've just always taken it for granted."

"Well, I guess I finally have some new information to take back home to Luke. We'll have to do some talking about this." She sighed. "I've really gotten used to calling her Rory Kate, though."

Luke shrugged. "I think the universe will let you get away with it. Just don't name the dog Donny Osmond, though. That might be too much."

"Noted. No need to deliberately upset the powers that be."

He put the photo box down on the side table and looked back over at her. "Is there anything else you'd like while you're here?"

"There is, but it's a pretty big favor, though."

"Shoot."

She took a big breath, until her lungs hit baby. "I'd love to see the Dragonfly."

That brought out another frown from him. "That could be problematic."

"Yeah, I'm aware. I'd just like to see it though. Just once. I worry that there's something I've missed."

"You're not satisfied with yours?"

"Yes, but – "

"Then why worry about it?"

She chuckled. "I can't tell you how many times my Luke has said that."

"Listen to the man."

"I do! I'm just…curious. I want to make sure I'm not missing something important."

He looked at her – all of her – in a more appraising way. "I don't see any way we could sneak you inside the building itself, but I could at least drive you over to the property. Is that good enough?"

"Yes!" she instantly agreed, not wanting to push her luck. "That's all I want, really. Well, I'd love to see it all, but I'm willing to compromise, under the circumstances." She patted at her belly.

"Give me a minute." He got up from the couch and hurried up the stairs. He was soon back, with a pair of his sweatpants and Lorelai's Ugg boots. "Here, see if these work for you. I'll be right back."

She was able to pull the sweatpants over the baby mound, all the way to her armpits. She struggled to bend down enough to pull the boots on, but when Luke appeared again he bent down to tug them onto her feet.

He then handed her a shawl, a wide-brimmed fishing hat, and a pair of sunglasses.

She giggled while putting on the camouflage. "You're pretty good with the disguises. Are you a secret agent guy in another life?"

"Oh, for sure, in yet another universe," he deadpanned. "Let me go see how close I can pull up to the back door. Don't step outside until I get there."

"Ooh, real cloak and dagger stuff! Roger, Agent Danes. I'll wait until you give me the bat signal."

He rolled his eyes as he left the room.

She shuffled to the kitchen and watched out the door until he nosed the truck into the backyard, close to the porch steps. He jumped out and came to help her down the steps and to ease up into the pick up's seat.

"Ready?" he asked, carefully backing out to the driveway.

"You bet!" she agreed confidently, but once they were out on the street, she sank further down on the seat, pushed the sunglasses higher on her nose and tugged the brim of the weird hat lower onto her face.

Once they got close to the Dragonfly, Luke surprised her by turning into the mill's drive.

"What are you doing?"

"Going the back way."

"There's a back way?" She held onto the door handle, amazed as Luke navigated past the mill and the other buildings, turned down an almost hidden lane, drove around the pond, and in just a few minutes, cautiously pulled up next to the inn's barn.

"Wow!" She turned around in her seat, confirming how they'd gotten there. "See? This has already been informative. I had no idea you could do that."

"So how's it look to you?"

Lorelai took in the gables on the inn and the comforting presence of the barn. "Just the same, as far as I can tell."

He looked to confirm that no one was around, then eased the truck forward a bit, so she could see more of the landscape.

"Same colors," she observed, relief in her voice. "Same flower boxes. Even the same rocking chairs, I think."

"So it's all good then, right?"

"It's beautiful." She laughed at herself. "Funny, I know my Dragonfly is beautiful, too, but there's just something about seeing it with different eyes. I can say that for sure now. It's beautiful."

"No argument from me."

Her eyes darted everywhere. "Oh, there_ is_ a difference. I built a deck down at the pond. I've got lounge chairs and twinkle lights all over it. There's a small curtained pavilion, big enough for a mini-buffet table. The guests love sitting down there at night, and wedding parties always want pictures taken there."

He nodded seriously, able to picture it from her description. "That's a great idea. Mind if I share it with Lorelai?"

"I think you should." She grinned. "It's definitely my turn to reciprocate!"

"Anything else you still need to check?" he asked after a few more minutes of her scrutiny passed by. He sounded slightly nervous.

She sighed, looking longingly at the kitchen door. "I'd love to go in, to see the kitchen and the rooms." She shrugged. "I'd love to see Sookie, but…" She tapped at her swollen middle.

"Yeah, no way to explain that."

"At least, not overnight."

"The miracle of birth," he suggested dryly, and she laughed.

"Thanks, Luke. I really do appreciate this." She leaned back into her seat, satisfied. "This puts my doubts to rest."

"Worth it, then." He backed the truck up, preparing to leave the same way they came.

As they started the return trip, she closed her eyes and smiled, thinking happily about all that she'd seen. Her eyes popped back open when the truck came to an abrupt stop before they even reached the mill's property.

"She was ready to run to Boston," he said without emotion, staring straight out of the windshield.

"I'm sorry, what?" She looked around at the scenery, trying to make sense of his statement.

"Lorelai. We fought. A…a terrible, terrible fight. Right out in the street, by the square. And she was ready to head straight to Boston."

Her brain was working double-time, but it still wasn't making any sense to her. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

He snorted derisively. "You could say that."

"I'm sorry, but it doesn't."

He finally turned to look at her, once again irate. "_He_ doesn't live in Boston?"

"He?" She tried to fit the pieces together. "Do you mean Chris?"

"Of course I mean Chris!" He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to keep his composure. "He doesn't live in Boston in your world?"

"No, not now. He did, for a while during the Sherry years, but he moved back to Hartford."

Luke closed his eyes, as if to shut out something painful, before deliberately turning his head towards the window. "To be closer to you," he stated darkly.

"Yes," she agreed, whatever sympathy she had for this hard-headed Luke nearly used up. "It didn't work out, but yeah, we tried." She leaned over and gave a sharp tug to the sleeve of his green jacket, forcing him to look back at her. "Look, I'm not your Lorelai." She pointed to her swollen body. "Obviously, there are some major differences between the universes. What's happened to me isn't necessarily going to happen to her. Let me remind you, I've gone my whole life so far without Rory. Yes, I married Chris. Big deal! What's important is that I found Luke – or he found me, rather, thanks to Lorelai's trip across the void. I don't understand why you're so hung up on Chris. She had years to make that happen, if that's what she wanted. But she didn't. She held out for you."

He looked her in the face for a moment longer, before shifting his focus to the steering wheel. "More like she settled for me," he said, in a quiet, pain-filled voice.

"Oh, come on! You think she doesn't love you?"

He looped his fingers over the wheel, lightly sliding them over the plastic before dropping them back into his lap. "I've never been 100 percent sure."

"Luke! Are you nuts?"

"No, I'm realistic. I've watched Lorelai dive and dart for years. There's never been much time devoted to contemplation. She talks herself into things; she talks her way out of things. I don't trust –" He broke off his statement, but then took a deep breath and continued. "I don't trust that I'm her final decision."

Lorelai found herself staring at him with her mouth hanging open in shock. She snapped it closed, then thought about what she needed to ask next. "As far as trust goes - do you trust _her_?"

He didn't have to think about his answer. "No."

Again, she was stunned. "Do you think she trusts you?"

He started to answer immediately, but then paused to think about it. "No," he finally said, with a gruff honesty.

"Then I guess it's a good thing you're not married!" she pointed out, heat in her voice.

"It probably is," he acknowledged, with a deep sigh.

Lorelai winced. "Hey, I'm sorry. Looks like I took that personally, even though it has nothing to do with me – which was the point I was trying to make just a little bit ago."

"Yeah, I get it." He smiled sadly at her. "The whole thing is weird."

"Very _Outer Limits_," Lorelai offered.

His smile turned more genuine.

"Last question."

He snorted and put the truck back in drive. "You expect me to believe that?"

She chuckled. "Darn! You know me – or my doppelganger – too well."

"That I do."

"So here's the big question, Luke. What do you want? Do you want to fix this with Lorelai? Do you want to be able to trust each other? Do you want to stick together through thick and thin, forever and ever, through this universe and whichever one that comes next?"

"I do," he responded automatically. He swallowed hard, pretending to be watching for traffic before he pulled out onto the road, hoping she'd ignore how much his response sounded like a vow.

"Then, I guess you guys have some homework to do, don't you?"

"Homework?"

"Talking. Getting your fears out there. Giving her a chance to explain. Figuring out how to earn each other's trust again."

He went silent.

"Hello?" Lorelai nudged him. "You disagree?"

"No, I was just thinking." He cleared his throat and glanced over at her. "When we were…whatever we were, all of those years ago, we talked about everything. We didn't dance around anything. We laid into each other, laid it out straight. And then, when we got together…it seemed like we started to tiptoe. When there was more at stake, we lost the honesty we used to have."

"Sounds like you already know a good place to start getting the two of you back on track."

"We _were_ doing better. When Lorelai came back from seeing your world, she told me we had to do better, and we did, for a while. But then she got caught up in some problems Rory was having, and the Dragonfly was busy, and then April showed up…" He trailed off, and then gave another deep sigh. "Maybe what you said before was true. Maybe I did use April to give me some sort of power. Maybe I was trying to give her a taste of what it felt like to be kept in the dark." He shook his head, grimacing. "That's pretty sick, huh?"

"I think that's pretty honest," Lorelai countered. "But again, I'm not the Lorelai you should be telling this to."

"Right," he acknowledged.

They both lapsed into silence, until they were back at the house. Luke again pulled around to the rear and escorted her out of the truck and inside the house.

"What else can I do for you? I hate to say it, but I really should get to the diner pretty soon," he apologized.

"No, I get that. Not a problem," Lorelai insisted. She removed most of her disguise. "Listen, since I'm up, I'm going to hit the bathroom, and then I think I'll just nap on the couch for a while." She tried to stifle a yawn. "This inter-dimensional stuff is exhausting."

When she returned, Luke helped her get settled on the couch. He tucked the afghan around her. He gathered up the pictures of Rory to put back on the mantel, but he left the one of a tiny newborn Rory on the coffee table, right in front of her.

"Thanks," she laughed. "I'll continue to focus on my goal that way."

"When are they due?"

"Sometime in late October, early November, but twins are unpredictable, so..."

He stilled as he replaced the photos over the fireplace. He turned to look at her. "Uh, I could tell you when Rory's birthday is."

"But that would be cheating."

He smiled warily. "If you say so."

When he walked back over to check on her one last time, she smiled and held her hand up to him. "Thanks, Luke. You've been a perfect host."

"You're sure there's nothing else?" He squeezed her hand as he looked around the room with worried eyes. "You can call the diner, you know, if you need to."

"I'll be fine." She studied his face. "How about you?"

He took her question seriously, the way she intended it. "I think I'm going to fight. I was willing to just let it all slide and see where we ended up, but that sounds like a terrible way to live. I think I want to fight to get us whole again. And if it doesn't work out…well, at least I tried."

She kept hold of his hand. "Do you love her?"

The muscle in his jaw jumped. "Oh yeah," he tried to say lightly. "There's no question about that. No matter what happens, I'm always going to love her."

"Good. Because she loves you with her whole heart."

He scoffed a little bit, embarrassed. "Because that's how you feel about your Luke?"

"No, silly. Because she said so herself."

His eyes went wide as he absorbed that. Eventually he nodded, looking down at her hand still holding his. "Then I'll fight extra hard."

Lorelai snuggled down into her nest on the couch. "Goodbye, Luke. Take care of yourself."

He smiled down at her. "Goodbye, Lorelai. Take care of Jess and Rory. And – you know – that other guy, too. He probably needs it."

"He does," she agreed, chuckling. She looked at the picture of baby Rory, and sighed. "Boy, I sure hope that the good mother gene is a constant in all the universes."

Luke nodded. "I'm willing to bet that it is."

* * *

_October the 8__th__, a few weeks later…_

At first, Lorelai didn't realize that her eyes were open. She'd been deeply asleep, but now she was conscious, feeling strangely groggy and not quite herself, but she was definitely awake.

She moved the tiniest bit and her body fought back. Suddenly she remembered it all. The liquid trickling down her legs. The all-consuming pain that no one had sufficiently described to her. The speedy trip to the hospital, her hands clenched around the door handle as the pains kept coming. Bright lights over her head. Luke's face, set into a mask of fear. Then…babies. Soft, warm, squirmy babies. Unimaginably tiny, but perfect, beautiful babies. Worth every bit of pain.

Her vision cleared and she could see across the small room. There was her husband, cradling one of the babies. Jess, she thought. Maybe.

"So pretty," she cooed, happy at the sight. Content to leave him in charge, her eyes fluttered closed once again.

"No, Lorelai! Don't! Don't go back to sleep! Please?" Luke was at her bedside, the dark-haired baby still supported in one arm. He put a hand up to her face. "Please, Lorelai, I need to talk to you."

Fear instantly filled her up. "Why? What's wrong?" She sat up a bit, in spite of the pain, desperate to get to her baby, frantic to clearly see the other one sleeping in the crib.

"No, no, nothing's wrong with the babies." He moved his hand to her shoulder, gently urging her back down. "No, the babies are…" He looked down at the one in his arm, love pouring out of his face. "They're amazing, Lorelai. They're perfect." He shook his head slightly and then looked back at her. His voice cracked a little bit. "You're amazing."

"Mmm," she sighed happily, believing him, and let her eyes slide closed again.

"No, Lorelai, stay with me here. I promise, I'll make this short, but you need to hear me."

"What?" she asked, a little irritably.

He sucked in a breath of air. "I'm not…I'm not your Luke."

"_What?!"_ Panic insisted she try to sit up again. She grimaced at the pain but held her position. "What are you talking about?"

"Sorry, I'm sorry," he murmured, doing his best to encourage her comfort again. "It sounds like your guy went home to catch a nap, and apparently I popped in to take his place as soon as he did."

"But what the – why did – this isn't fair!" she wailed.

"It's OK, it's OK," he repeated to her, jiggling the baby – Rory? – at the same time. "I don't think I'll be here long. I'm pretty sure I know why I'm here. And don't worry about the babies. I've been taking good care of them, I promise. The nurse brought me these little eye-dropper-sized bottles and I…" He paused to take a deep breath. "I fed them, Lorelai. I got to feed them. It was, without a doubt, one of the most miraculous experiences of my life. They are…" He looked again at the one in his arms, shaking his head. "Amazing. It's all amazing." Overcome, he bent over and lightly kissed her forehead.

"Well, I'm glad you're having such a good time," she said, still slightly miffed, watching as his attention immediately shifted back to the baby. "So go ahead, tell me, why are you here?"

He tore his gaze away from Rory – or Jess – and back to her. "I'm here to tell you that the fighting worked. It was tough, but Lorelai and I are back on track. We've talked – well, at least I've talked, more than I ever have. The trust is back. We're committed. We're solid. We're not going anywhere, ever. We're both all in."

"That's good, Luke. I'm glad." She took a calming breath, blew it out, and discovered she really was happy for them. "That's the way it should be, right?"

"Right," he agreed. "And I think I'm here for one more reason."

"What's that?"

"To see these guys." He cuddled the baby a little bit tighter to his chest. "I think the universe wanted me to see what's possible. We've been talking some about our future; about if it should include more children or not, and frankly, I've been sort of ambivalent. If it was something Lorelai really wanted, I was willing to go along with it, but to be honest, I wasn't completely on board, you know? But now…" He took a shaky breath. "I'm convinced. I know I want us to have at least one of these. They're –"

"Amazing. So I've heard."

He grinned at her gentle chastisement. "Sorry, guess I'm babbling some. But they are…and I can't seem to be able to stop saying it."

Lorelai moved her arm, needing to touch the baby's downy hair. "They really are, aren't they? Amazing _and_ beautiful. The most beautiful babies in any universe."

"In _this_ universe," Luke corrected her. "I reserve the right to bestow that title on my own guys someday, in my world."

"I hope so," Lorelai told him, sincerely. She pointed to the way he was snuggling the baby. "I think you'll be a wonderful daddy when that day comes."

"I'm trying to be a good dad for April, and I've always tried to be there for Rory, but this is different. Getting to be there right from the start. To be there for everything, and not just get added in as an afterthought years later."

"To be there from the first bottle on."

"Yeah, exactly." His smile suddenly disappeared. "Oh, hey, I hope he doesn't mind that I sort of took that over."

"Under the circumstances, I think he'll understand better than anyone ever could."

The baby squirmed and screwed up his face as if to protest, but like a pro, Luke gently swayed side-to-side, soothing him. "You should probably get some more rest while you can. Think you could get back to sleep now?" he asked, his voice just above a whisper.

Lorelai closed her eyes experimentally and felt the overwhelming urge to snooze return. "Yeah," she sighed, once more content with everything in her life.

"Then go ahead, sleep," he said softly. "I swear to you that I'll guard them with my life, Lorelai. As long as I'm here, they're protected."

"I know," she confirmed drowsily.

"And I'm sure your guy will be here the next time you wake up," he assured her.

"Mm-hmm," she agreed, already half-asleep. But something about his certainty made her forehead crease. "Why so sure?"

He leaned closer to her again and dropped his voice low. "Because it's Rory's birthday. I need to be there for the big party her mother's planned."

With her eyes closed, Lorelai smiled. "Tell her happy birthday from all of us," she instructed him, before drifting off to the thought of planning lots and lots of birthday parties as the years unfolded. Here in this world, they still had a lot of catching up to do.

* * *

**Author's Chat:** Hi there! Happy Halloween! Sorry it took so long to get this one completed. I had it mostly done, but then when I read it over I thought it was stupid, so I abandoned it for a while. Anyway, I finally finished it and here it is, stupid or not. (Trick…or treat!) Even though I'm curious to see how Original Luke and Original Lorelai got themselves straightened out, I think I'll leave the universe-hopping alone for now. I think it's time to flip a coin and see if we travel next to Italy or back in time to Colorado. I also have a lot of almost-done stories that probably just need some polishing in order to be declared done, so maybe I should do that as well. In any case, I'm still around. Just like Luke, I'll probably always be around! Let me know what you think about this one and cast your vote about what comes next!


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